Everyone is a master of his own fate
by Shirokaga
Summary: For some odd reason Arthur is drawn back to an old haunted house he visited when he was younger. And what does the house got to do with the lanky boy Merlin, whose existence Arthur just recently realised. Merlin/Arthur. Slash. AU. Please review;D
1. Chapter 1

Everyone is a master of his own fate

_One of these days_, Arthur found himself thinking,

_One of these days__, I'm just going walk out of this shit hole of a school and never come back_. He moved few inches forward.

_Seriously__, how could it take these people so long to make up their mind what to have for lunch? How can these people ever be able to do anything useful in their lives if they can't even make up their minds about what to eat for lunch today?_ The school was so full of losers it made Arthur itch.

Yet again the queue moved a little Arthur could almost see the food now. He was so looking forward to getting his hand on some delicious chicken wings that the menu had promised. Arthur leaned on the side and tried to see how many people were in front of him.

_Too fucking many.__ I bet they'll be out of chicken wings just when it's my turn. I don't want to eat some vegetable mush again. _Sigh_. _He could see that his friendValiant (aka V) was just collecting his chicken from the lunch lady_. _

_That clever knob!__ He always cuts in line. Maybe I should too._ He tried to see someone he could easily cut in front of, but didn't really see any good victims. He scanned the line again and finally saw Gwen.

_Aha, I bet she wouldn't mind me cutting in front of her. She is so in to me she can't help her self. _Arthur stepped out of the line and made his way to Gwen. As he was reaching out to her he could hear some one yell.

"In coming!" And before he could react something wet and slimy flew right at him accompanied with something heavy yet bony. Too bodies hit the floor with a thump followed by the clinging sound of the dishes.

_OMG, I can__'t move! _His inner voice was screaming as his brain was slowly catching up with the situation. He lifted his head to estimate the damage that this unexplained occurrence had taken on him to find a pair of scared blue eyes fixed on him. The whole cafeteria fell silent and all the heads were turned at the direction of the commotion.

"I'm sorr…" The boy didn't have time to finish his sentence.

"Get off of him you wanker!" The weight was lifted and the eyes were gone. Before Arthur was able to pick himself up from the floor, a herd of caring females swarmed around him.

"Oh my gosh! Arthur, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself? Is your head alright?"

The girls started attacking him with concerned questions. Arthur struggled to stand up because the girls were pinning him down. Usually he didn't mind tension, well who in their right mind would say no to praises concerning looks or skills. Arthur most certainly didn't, but this was a bit too much. He was starting to get pissed, he hated overbearing girls. He had always hated the _poor thing, come here, I'll give you a cuddle and everything will be alright_ kind of treatment girls gave him sometimes, especially when they tried to make him open up about his mother.

_Damn these cuddlers were persistent!_

As he finally got up he fought his way trough the herd of girls over to the boy who had just made him hit the floor. V and some other thugs were holding him as he tried to struggle out of their grasp.

"What the fuck was that all about then?!" Arthur was surprised to find himself so pissed of at this scrawny klutz.

_OMG! My shirt is full of __some greasy mush, its never going to come off._ Arthur just noticed his shirt was smeared with food.

"Look at the state of my shirt! It's ruined!"

"I'm sorry, but they made me stumble…."

"Are you seriously trying to pin this on someone else? Have you no shame you friggin klutz!? You your self are responsible for your own feet and the direction their supposed to go."

"Don't be such a prat. Your buddies here tripped me and…."

"Who are you calling a prat you little…"

Before the situation got anymore heated, the teachers thought it best to break it off. The students had already started to bet on who would beat down who first. Oh well like the lanky kid would have had a chance. It was more like how long would he still be able to stand on his own two feet.

-

Classes were over, but as Arthur was hurrying to his football practise he went past the detention room and caught a glimpse of the boy from the cafeteria. He stopped in front of the classroom to have a little gloat. He was already late from the practise, but they would just do some lame warm ups at first anyway. So naturally there was always time for a little gloat.

_Hah haw, __serves him right. Ruining my shirt and all. Hmm….I don't remember seeing him before, he must be new. Oh well no surprise there. New ones are always the weirdest. Hmm, there is definitely something shifty about this guy. What the…! _

Arthur jumped back when the boy raised his gaze from his school book to look straight at him. Arthur could see the boy's mouth move as if he was saying something, but no words seemed to come out `cause the teacher didn't react to him in anyway. Arthur could have sworn the boys eyes changed colour just before the door slammed shut loudly right in front of him.

Arthur ran the whole way to the football field as fast as he possibly could. Definitely no need for a warm up anymore.

-

After the practise as they were heading to the locker rooms V caught up with Arthur and gave him a little punch on the shoulder.

"What the fuck was wrong with you today Pendragon, my five year old sister could have gotten the ball away from you. "

"I'm sorry dude I just had a really weird day today." Arthur didn't try to defend himself in any way, he really had sucked. Arthur couldn't remember the last time he had sucked so bad at the field

"Wow there, you don't sound quite right. Are you ill or something?" V raised his hands up and took a few steps away from Arthur.

"No, I'm not ill. At least I think I'm not. Do I look ill, because I don't feel ill?" Arthur mumbles.

"Dude, you're almost making sense. Did you hit you head or something at the cafeteria?"

"I don't think so….Hey, by the way whose lunch did I wear today."

"Um, I don't know. We just beat that lanky bitch up every once in a while, but that don't mean I know his name."

"Oh. Ok." Arthur frowned. He wasn't quite sure why.

"But hey, I'll be sure to make him pay the next time I see him. And you'd better get your act together for the next practice or you'll be screwed." V gave him few more punches on the shoulder and took off.

"Yeah ok." Arthur watched as V sprinted towards the locker rooms and then made a u-turn when he spotted some girls hanging on the side of the field.

_What a prick, he sure does__n't need much to live for. Hmm…I wonder if there is someone else who might know the name of that boy from the cafeteria. A-hah._

Arthur ran to a boy who was collecting his stuff from the side of the field.

"Hey, um…dude." Arthur just realised he didn't remember his name. They had been in the same team for few years and yet he didn't seem to recall his name.

"Lance."

"Huh?"

"My name. Lance."

"Of course. _Lance_. I know your name." Arthur gave him a friendly nudge and tried to laugh, but it all came out seriously awkward.

"Ok, my bad, you just kind a looked like you were struggling there for a moment." Lance shrugged and went back to his business.

"Um, Lance?"

"Yes, Arthur?"

"You wouldn't happen to know the name of the boy who threw his lunch at me today."

"If you mean the name of the boy who fell on you with his tray because Valiant tripped him over then the answer is yes, I know his name."

"Oh, um….Well what is it?"

"I'm not going to tell you that, so you can make his life even more difficult."

"I'm not going to make his life difficult. I just heard he got detention and…" Arthur tried to give Lance a reassuring smile. "I just thought that I might apologise to him."

"You might?" Lance wasn't really warming up to him.

"I will apologise. Please. If you could give me his name and maybe his address if you know…."

"His name is Merlin Emrys, but I don't know where he lives, I have never been to his house."

"Ok, thanks." Arthur turned and left. Now that he had it he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with this information.

"Hey, Arthur!" Lance called after him. "Don't make me regret this. And you should make Valiant apologise too, he's the biggest prick in all this."

-

Arthur decided to walk home. Usually a chauffeur drove him and Morgana home, but right now he felt he needed to do some walking. He needed to clear his head. It would be over eight kilometre walk, but it's not like Arthur couldn't handle that, after all he was an athlete.

The evening air felt really fresh; it had been raining earlier that day. Arthur wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd walked home from school. He tried to use as many shortcuts as he could remember from his childhood, when he had been playing in that area. As he walked in the nostalgic surroundings he started shuffle through the events of the day in his mind.

_Merlin Emrys, strange name… That lanky boy surely was a strange one._

_My favourite shirt is ruined, though I could try and wash it,__ but the grease will never come off. I'll just have to get a new one_. _Maybe I should make Merlin buy me a new one, but it's not like he did it on purpose. So that would leave Valiant_…_Oh, I don't know. He was just having a laugh, I'm sure he wasn't aiming for me…_

_Merlin… What a funny name…_

_It's a good thi__ng I had an extra shirt with me, otherwise I would have smelled like food for the rest of the day…_

_What was the thing with the eyes anyway_ _and why on earth did I get so freaked out by them? And the door, the school is kinda drafty. But I must have been imagining; people's eyes don't just change colour._

_Oh man, __I totally sucked at the practise, the coach didn't seem too happy about that…_

_Merlin's eyes…_Sigh.

_Did I just sigh? Now that's weird. _

Arthur shook his head to get rid of the odd feeling that had emerged out of nowhere.

_T__here is definitely something odd about that Merlin-boy, I just can't quite but my finger on it._

_Hmm…I wonder why I've never noticed him before. _

Arthur frowned; he tried to think if he'd seen Merlin before this day. He remembered Will, he remembered Lance, but he just couldn't remember seeing Merlin hanging out with them.

_This is a bit weird. __How could anyone not notice someone like Merlin?_

_Hmm…Merlin…_

Sigh.

_Damn it!_

Arthur just realized that Merlin had occupied his thought completely.

_Hey, wait a minute. Where the fuck am I? _

After slouching for about 40 minutes (deep in his thoughts) Arthur realised he was a bit lost, well he wouldn't use the word lost, but anyway.

Arthur studied his surroundings to find a landmark he could recognise.

_All these damn housing estates look the bloody same these days. _

The houses around him were all new and they were almost identical. Arthur walked a little further down the avenue and he stopped on his tracks as he noticed a familiar street sign that pointed to a little road that didn't really lead anywhere. The road was a dead end, but there was an old house that had not been lived in for centuries. Or at least that's what they said. The old house was rather notorious among the people who lived by.

_Ealdorstreet! Shit. I must have taken a left turn a bit too early_.

Arthur hadn't been there for years. He still had nightmares of the house, every now and then. He wanted to run as fast as he could, like he had run when he was 12. He gaped down the road where the house still stood, looking exactly the same…. Except, it almost looked like the light on the porch was on. But of course that would be impossible since no one had lived there for ages.

_Now that's a bit odd;_ was the first thought that popped into Arthur's mind and without mulling over the fact any further, he ran like he had run all those years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2 -

"You think someone could actually live in the haunted house?" Arthur asked Valiant with a hushed voice. He new Valiant would be reluctant to talk about the house due to a certain occurrence few years ago, but he just needed to get this off his chest.

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about that place ever again. We made a pact, Arthur." Valiant moved on his seat a little, the question obviously made him uncomfortable and he tried to hide it behind a fake smile.

"Well yeah, but that was years ago….And um…I just happened to walk past the house last night and I think the porch light was on. Do you think that, maybe someone lives there now and is like renovating it or something?" Arthur tried to make sense of it all. As much as the place creeped him out, for some reason it also fascinated him.

"Are you serious? I really don't understand why anyone would want to live in that eery house. It's practically falling apart; they should just tear it down while they have a chance." Valiant looked at Arthur doubtingly and he shook his head.

"What were you even doing…" Valiant was cut off…

"But that's impossible. My friend told me, that the house can't be destroyed." Some girl suddenly joined in on the conversation.

_Where the hell did she come from?_ Arthur wondered.

"OMG! Are you actually talking about_ THE_ haunted house at the Ealdorstreet? Have you ever noticed that the number of the house is 8 even though there isn't, and never have been any other houses on that particular street? "Another girl spoke.

"Has someone finally gotten in there? How did they manage to do that?" And another.

"My cousin tried to get in last Halloween, but the door didn't open even though Halloween is supposed to be the only time the front door is open. And when I tried the door it opened and we all got so scared that we screamed and then we ran and then we…."

A group of pupils started gathering around Arthur and Valiant. Everyone wanted to share experiences they or someone they knew had had with the haunted house. Arthur was amazed how many had been to the house. He was also amazed how their private conversation had morphed in to a public one.

Arthur glanced at the people gathered around them and was surprised as he spotted Merlin listening to a story of one of the girls, from a little distance. He looked like he was trying his best to hold back a laugh. The boy was almost trembling and he was holding a hand on his mouth. The girl finished her "spooky" tale with a serious look in her face. The student's reacted to her narration with horrified, supportive and admiring gasps. It almost looked like it was turning in to support group of some sort.

Valiant seemed to have gotten over the fear of the topic and started to tell his (and Arthur's) story, though it was slightly modified. Some screaming and maybe some running were left out, discreetly. Arthur rolled his eyes at Valiant's story. _That's not quite what happened, but what ever._

Arthur had had enough of the story hour. He got ready to make his move and shuffle trough the crowd, as he noticed that Merlin wasn't laughing anymore. Merlin's face fell as he turned his gaze from Valiant to Arthur, when Arthur's name was mentioned. Their eyes met. Merlin winced a little, turned and started walking away. Arthur grabbed his backpack, fought his way trough the crowd and ran after Merlin.

"Merlin! Wait up!" Arthur hollered after him.

"What do you want?" Merlin turned on his heels and crossed his hands on his chest in a defensive way.

"I, um." Arthur first checked there was no one else in an earshot of them. Luckily most of the students had gathered around the story tellers. " I wanted to talk to you about yesterday."

"And what about it?" Merlin's eyebrow rose in a questioning manner.

"Well I just wanted to tell you; I'm not holding a grudge over you. Even though, you did ruin my favourite shirt. Although I could make you pay for the cleaning, but I've decided to show some mercy 'cause you probably couldn't afford it anyway. "

Arthur had said to Lance (_Yeah I __**said**__, it's not like I __**promised**__. This here is the next best thing)_ he would apologise to Merlin, but that just simply wasn't possible. Arthur Pendragon apologised to no man.

_This is going surprisingly well. _Arthur felt relieved. There seemed to be no need for an apology after all. So there was no need to feel guilty.

"Is that it?" Merlin couldn't believe his ears. For a moment Merlin had thought that Arthur had come to question him about the incident in the afternoon and not the one at lunch. This prat sure wasn't the sharpest tool in the box. But it's not like Merlin was complaining.

"You're such a prat, you know?" He said that with a bit of a laugh. Now that the fear of possible exposure was gone Merlin got his edge back.

"What? Why are you suddenly calling me a prat? I thought we were ok already?" Arthur frowned in confusion.

"We? Ok? Nope. Your goons have been giving me the grief for the last four years, ever since I got here and after yesterday I'm quite surprised that I'm still alive. You and your friends think you can do what ever you like and get away with it. You think you're so much better than everyone else. But let me tell you, that in real world you're going to have to pay for what you do. So enjoy while it lasts. And just so you now, it really was your _friend_ who tripped me. And I'm pretty sure you knew that already. So you really should send the bill to Valiant." With that Merlin was gone. He didn't stay for a comeback. Not that Arthur could have even given him one.

Arthur was taken aback; he wasn't quite sure how to respond to this. People didn't usually speak their mind like that to him.

_What__ on earth goes around in that boy's head? _

_Just now he was complaining how my friends were picking on him and then out of the blue he just insults me like that. _

_He is__ just asking for it, isn't he?_

_Loudmouth like that, no wonder they're__ all over him. _

_What an idiot. _

_And I was trying to be nice for once._

_Why did I even bother? _

_And why does he keep calling me a prat?_

_Hey, where did he go?_

-

Next they have P.E.

"You lads are playing Dodgeball today so get those smaller balls out from the storage room. Oi, Pendragon come here. I wanna word with you." The P.E. teacher was also the coach of the football team. Mr. Gregory or Coach Gregory as he preferred to be called, (the student sometimes referred to him as old-Greg) wasn't the most demanding P.E. teacher and for that the student kinda liked and respected him, but when it came to football(which was his pride and joy) he was absolutely ruthless.

"Dodgeball! What are we, ten?" Will tried to protest, but the teacher took no notice; he was too busy questioning Arthur over his lame effort at the last practise.

"Yeah, you are, mentally." Valiant threw Will with a ball and it bounced right back to him from Will's head.

"Oi!" Will took a step towards Valiant all ready for duel, but Merlin grabbed his shoulder and steered him to another direction.

"Just leave it." Merlin said calmly and they went to sit on the benches on the side of the gym.

"That dude just needs a good beating and you know it. And I'm sure he is going to get one sooner or later if he keeps that up." Will complained heatedly.

"Well it doesn't mean you need to be the one to give it to him. Just ignore him, will you?" As the teacher's back was turned to the others Valiant attacked every poor bloke within his range, with every possible ball he could get his hands on. A basketball and a baseball where part of his arsenal.

"I don't understand how you can just put up with them like that?" Will asked frustratedly and pointed at Valiant.

Merlin just shrugged and watched as the other students were goofing around with the balls. Some students were brave enough to challenge Valiant.

"You of all people. You could just take them out. Just like that, without even breaking a sweat. I don't understand what the hell is stopping you, Merlin."

"You know very well what's stopping me. I can't just go around casting spells on who I like in broad daylight. I've told you this a hundred times already." Merlin snapped back with a hushed voice.

"It didn't seem to stop you yesterday did it?"

"What do you mean?" Merlin had a guilty look on his face; he knew exactly what Will meant.

"I saw you bang that door on that butt munches face." Will was now pointing to Arthur's direction, who seemed to be having an argument with the coach.

"That was an accident. And you see, if you saw me do it, than anyone could have. And that's exactly why I shouldn't be doing magic at school. You never know whose watching. Thank goodness that prat didn't realize what went down."

"Ok, ok I get the point…. Hey, how can you be sure he didn't realize what happened?" Will now wondered.

"He didn't say anything about it earlier." Merlin pointed out.

"Did you talk to him or something?" Will asked a bit dumbstruck.

"Yeah, kind of." Merlin just now realized how odd it actually had been that Arthur approached him like that.

"Well what did he want then. Did they gang up on you again or something?"

"No, nothing like that. He just kind of came to talk to me. It almost sounded at first that he was going to apologise or something, but then he just ended up talking about his friggin shirt. But in the end I called him a prat and I think I might have squeezed in a few other insults too." Merlin wasn't sure if he should be proud or not. He didn't usually speak his mind like that, not to people he didn't know. For some reason Arthur just really got to him.

"Well done my boy. Finally you're standing up for yourself." Will grabbed his friend with his other arm and pulled him in to a headlock.

"Get off." Merlin laughed and tried to fight his way out of his friend's hold. Will was attacking his head now with his knuckles.

"….but I must say; him coming to you like that is a bit suspicious though." Will finally let go off Merlin's head, after giving it a nice rumple.

"Yah, I thought it was a bit odd too." Merlin admitted and shrugged.

Merlin didn't notice that Arthur was observing their conversation from a distance.

"Ok, lads, come here." Coach Gregory called out.

Everybody gathered around the coach. Merlin and Will left their seats and joined the others.

It was time to make the teams. The teacher made Valiant and Leon call out teams. Will and Merlin were the last ones so Will ended up in Leon's team and Merlin in to Valiant's team (Valiant didn't look too happy about that).

"Why do I feel like it's the jocks against the feeble and sturdy? Merlin is a lucky dog." Merlin heard someone's comment from Leon's team.

Merlin reluctantly followed his team members who headed to the other side of the court. Merlin rolled his eyes when he saw Valiant giving him a deadly glare; he was now certain he would get his share of friendly fire during the game.

"What have you been up to?" Merlin heard a cheeky voice behind him.

Merlin turned his head in to the direction of the speaker. Arthur was grinning at him and he nodded pointedly towards Merlin's hair.

"I hardly think its any of you business." Merlin dismissed Arthur politely.

"Fair enough." Arthur kept on grinning and walked out of his sight.

Merlin immediately started to flatten his own hair that felt to be quite a mess.

"You missed a spot." Arthur came back out of nowhere, ruffled Merlin's hair and offered him a blue ball. Merlin was utterly confused so he just stared at Arthur.

Arthur studied Merlin's expression and squinted his eyes a bit.

"You gonna take it or not?" Arthur asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" Was all Merlin got out.

"I don't know why I even bother." The moment was over so Arthur just pushed the ball on to Merlin's stomach (who then grabbed it, with a slight groan escaping his lips) and walked away.

"Good one Arthur." Merlin could hear Valiant laughing behind him.

"Ok. Let's get started. Just remember to keep this game fair. Ok, lads?!" The teacher shouted, blew in to his whistle and after that he left the room to make a "phone call". Everyone knew he went to have a cig (he was highly addicted) but no one really cared. Except maybe the ones who were left to fear for their lives, because for jock's, no adult supervision meant; no rules. Fear rose in to the eyes of some of the tinier and slower student. They just knew their fates were sealed.

It was hammer time.

-

Next day:

"Since when has he been in this class?" Morgana turned from her seat and took a look at the direction Arthur was glaring.

"You mean Merlin?" Morgana asked in disbelief.

Arthur nodded.

" Your sure are as blind as you are stupid." Morgana went back to her business, filing her nails.

"Hey! Totally unnecessary use of sarcasm." Arthur now turned to glare at Morgana.

"Who was being sarcastic?" Morgana smiled in triumph as she saw the look on Arthur's face.

"I can't believe I'm actually related to you. _You're evil_." Arthur leaned forward to state the last part.

"Me, evil? Oh please. Last time I heard you were the one bombarding that Will-kid with basketballs at gym."

"That's different. We were, I mean I wasn't….You know what, I don't need to explain myself to you." Arthur crossed his arms and leaned as far away from Morgana as possible.

"Not a problem. But just in case you might have a conscience you could try and think before you actually participate in those idiotic stunts you guys always pull."

"I'm not talking to you anymore so don't bother." He was on his pouting mode now.

"Now that would be the first time." Morgana gave out a little snigger.

_Morgana has no idea what she's talking about._

_It__'s not like I was the one who decided to start throwing basketballs. _

_I think it was Geoff from Leon's team who got his hands on a basketball first and who threw it at Valiant who then caught it and passed it to me. _

_I just returned it, its not like it was my fault that Will's face__ was in the way when that happened. _

_She just always pins these things on me like I'm responsible for every friggin thing that goes wrong in this place. _

_Oh and __I bet Merlin would agree with her on that on too._

Arthur tried to forget the resentful look on Merlin's face when he ran to his friend's aid yesterday in P.E. He just couldn't shake off that image.

_I didn't mean to hit his face__. _

_Damn it._

_Now he thinks I'm just as bad as the rest of them__._

Sigh.

_Damn it__. I've got to stop doing that._

There it was again, a sigh, Arthur noticed he'd been doing that a lot lately and tried to occupy his thoughts with something else. It seemed like Valiant was planning on skipping the class so Arthur didn't really have anyone to talk to.

Well that wasn't completely true; in fact there were several people in that class who would have given anything to bask in the glory of Arthur Pendragon while sitting next to him. But today Arthur wasn't in the mood for a thorough boot licking.

And of course there was Morgana; however Arthur didn't usually talk to her during classes. Especially today he wouldn't, even though he was getting really bored. So when there was no one he could have a laugh with, he decided to try and actually listen to what the teacher was going on about. But on the long run, that didn't work either. Noises coming from behind were distracting him.

_And now they'__re laughing their arses off. _

_Can't the teacher shut them up? _

_H__e's always glaring at us when we are having a discussion with Valiant. _

_Has that man no shame._

Arthur turned around to see who the trouble makers were. He tried to pull his best "shut up or I'll make you shut up" expression on. That effort though was completely wasted. His face fell when he noticed that Will and Merlin where the ones disturbing his concentration. Will must have noticed that Arthur was staring at them, because he nodded at his direction and Merlin's head turned sharply. Arthur turned back on his seat quickly.

_Why did it have to bee __them?_

For a while the background noise tuned down, but then Arthur heard his name being mentioned. His posture straightened as he froze. Could they have actually been talking about him? _No way!_ He thought about turning his head again but that might seem a bit….well it might be a bit obvious. So he decided to lean back as much as he could, so he could hear clearly what they where talking about.

"_Go on do it, I know you can. You can right?"_

"_I can. But I really shouldn't and you know that_. _Didn't we just have this conversation yesterday_?"

"_Just this once, please. You know he deserves it. No one will notice it was you. Half of the people here are about to fall a sleep and the other half is actually listening to the teacher. They won't notice."_

Arthur's ears where burning red as he was trying to listen in on the discussion the two boys behind him were having. _What on earth was the other one going on about?_ He leaned back a little bit more. Before Arthur could do anything the chair gave in and he fell backwards.

"_Way to go Merlin_." He could hear an amused voice behind him. Other students were just staring at him in surprise.

"_Shut up, it wasn't me."_

"_Yes, of course it wasn't_."

"Are you ok down there?" A more familiar voice called for him. "Did you loose something or what?" Morgana tried to hold her laugh. Arthur was able to gather himself of the floor before a girl sitting few seats from him came to the rescue.

"I'm ok, thank you." Arthur said coldly and pulled his chair up. Before sitting down he glared at the two boys sitting in the back row. Will wasn't even trying to hide his laugh. No one else was laughing. Will was looking way too pleased with himself just now, for Arthurs liking. Arthur gave him a ferocious look. Merlin on the other hand wasn't even looking in to his direction. For some reason the boy had guilty written all over him.

_-_

At lunch Arthur followed Merlin with his gaze and noticed that he went to sit to an empty table in a secluded corner. Merlin was all alone; his friends were still in the notoriously slow lunch queue. Arthur took his chance to face Merlin, it would be just the two of them.

"Hi there." Arthur greeted with a toothy grin and took a seat opposite Merlin.

Merlin looked at him warily and then his eyes drifted to the direction of the queue.

"Don't worry; we have plenty of time to catch up before your backup gets here." Arthur tilted his head with a mischievous look on his face.

"What is it now?" Merlin rolled his eyes. He tried to sound indifferent and through that show that Arthur's presence did not intimidate him in any way. It wasn't all that easy so he tried to concentrate his gaze on anything but the boy across the table.

"I was just wondering how you did it." Arthur shrugged casually and poked his food with his fork.

"Did what?" Merlin furrowed his brow.

"Knock down my chair." Arthur's gaze was confident and sharp as he now stared at Merlin. It almost seemed like he was trying to stare the answer out of him.

"I did no such thing." Merlin uttered a laugh. He was trying his best, but he didn't work well under pressure. The way the other boy was staring him down was getting to him.

"I know you did. I heard you talking. _Admit it_." The sharp gaze did not budge.

"You heard nothing. It wasn't me, how could it have been. I wasn't even near you. It was all your own fault for being a clumsy prat." Merlin tried to look amused (and not intimidated) by this sudden accusation.

"Then why did you look so guilty?" Arthur raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"I did not." Merlin's cool facade finally dropped and the comeback came out a bit too defensive.

"You're a terrible liar, you know. Now tell me; how did you do it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Merlin forced a grin on his face, grabbed his tray and tried to leave. But Arthur clenched on to his wrists before he got up from the table.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not finished yet."

"Get off." Merlin's voice was calm, yet spiced with a hint of resentment.

"Or what?" Arthur looked at Merlin under his brow.

"I wouldn't do this if I were you." Merlin scoffed confidently.

"Wow, aren't you a feisty one. What're you gonna do to me." Arthur laughed and grinned at Merlin, but didn't let go of his wrists.

"Suit yourself." Merlin's face was dead serious.

Merlin's eyes flashed, before Arthur could say anything and he felt a cool splash of milk hit his face. Arthur's grip loosened and Merlin was able to run off.

Arthur got up to go after the boy, but Merlin had already caught up with Will (who was now glaring in to Arthur's direction) and he retreated.

It seemed no one else had paid any attention to them just a moment ago, but Arthur was now pretty certain there was something seriously off with that boy.

_How did he do that, I was holding his hands down the whole time. _

_What the hell is going on here?_

Arthur's train of thoughts was interrupted by Valiant (he had decided to show up for lunch) who took sat on the very same spot Merlin had just occupied a moment ago.

"Did you have fun in clas…?" Valiant asked teasingly. He was cut of by the sight before him.

"What the hell happened to you?" Valiant looked at Arthur with a goofy look on his face.

"_Merlin_." Arthur snarled quietly. He took a napkin from Valiant's tray and wiped the remaining drips of the liquid from his face.

"What?" He didn't quite catch what Arthur said.

"Never mind." He wiped his hair.

"Did you try to hit on someone or something? Did you come on too strong?" Valiant sneered.

"I said; never mind." He wiped his shirt.

"What ever." Valiant scoffed and dug in to his food. Despite the cold shoulder Arthur had given him, Valiant didn't stay quiet for long. He started to tell what he'd been up to for the last two hours. Arthur didn't really listen to Valiant's babbling. He couldn't keep his eyes of Merlin, who was now seated on the other side of the cafeteria. Arthur could only see the back of his head. The lanky boy sat between Will and Lance. Arthur was a little taken aback when Morgana and Gwen joined their table and they immediately embarked in to enthusiastic conversation.

_Since when have they been friends?_

Arthur didn't get much eating done on that particular lunch break.

-

_We left the same damn clas__s at the same damn time and she still isn't here._

_I should really get my own car, but __then I would also need a driver. _

_Hmm, maybe I should just get a motorcycle, even thought father forbade it._

_Stupid father what does he know, he has no fate in me. _

_Like I wouldn't know how to drive one. _

"Cant we just go all ready, Jeeves? She can take the bus, just fine." Arthur spoke to the chauffeur.

"I'm sorry Sir, but Lady Morgana asked me to wait for her today, as she told me she might run a little late."

"Well isn't that nice."

After a fifteen minute waiting Arthur was already planning on hijacking the car (his short temper made him think about doing stupid things, sometimes). Morgana finally came before Arthur was able to set his plan in to action. The car started moving immediately as she closed the car door.

"Where were you?" Arthur fired a question at her.

"I thought you weren't talking to me?"

"Fine then. I'm not."

"Well good for you, but for your question the answer would be; none of your beeswax, Arthur." Morgana smiled at him.

On the drive home Arthur occupied himself by looking out of the window as the siblings continued ignoring each other. When they came to halt in traffic lights Arthur noticed Merlin stepping out of a bus with Will.

"Pull over, would you Jeeves?" Arthur asked the driver to pull over as he noticed that Will and Merlin headed in to different directions.

"Stop calling him Jeeves!" Morgana rolled her eyes.

"But that's his name, right?"

"No it isn't. And where do you think your going?" Morgana shook her head and looked annoyed.

"None of your _business_, Morgana." He gave her a smirk and continued." Well, um, Mr. Driver could you pull over anyway, please?" Arthur made himself ready to get out.

"I'm sorry Sir; we are in the middle lane I can't pull over right now." The chauffeur answered politely.

"Fear enough, I'll just get off here myself."

"No you won't." Morgana protested, but Arthur didn't stay to listen. He jumped out in the traffic lights and swerved around other cars to get to the sidewalk.

He ran in to direction Merlin had gone, but the boy was no where to be seen anymore.

_Where__ did he go already?_

He ran ahead a while and saw a glimpse of Merlin before he disappeared behind a corner. At least he thought it might have been Merlin.

_This boy is quicker than he looks, must be the long legs._

_Weird to think he would use them for more than __just tripping over._ Arthur laughed at his own little joke.

_Hey__, I was there yesterday._

_I can't believe he lives around here. _

_These houses are rather posh and he certainly doesn't look like it._

Arthur was gaining on Merlin, but he wasn't in the yelling distance just yet. Arthur wasn't even quite sure what he would say to the other boy when he got in to the yelling distance (let alone to the speaking distance).

_Hmm, what should I say?_

_Oh man I feel like some __creepy stalker. _

_Why did I get out of the car…_

Merlin took an unexpected turn to right and he was out of sight again.

_You have got to be kidding me. _

_He di__d not just turn to Ealdorstreet. _

_Shit._


	3. Chapter 3

----------------Chapter 3----------------

Arthur stood in front of a crooked gate. He hadn't been this close to the house since he was 12. That Halloween had been the most terrifying Halloween he had ever experienced. Arthur had been the one to pick "dare" while they were playing spin the bottle at a party. Accepting the "dare" was one of the few things Arthur admitted to himself to regret. Sure he had done some stupid ass things during his teen and childhood years, but that "dare" he actually regretted.

-_Let's go back in time and see what happened-_

A group of kids were standing behind a blond boy eagerly waiting for him to enter the house. The boy climbed the stairs up to the porch. He didn't believe in ghosts, he hardly even believed in higher powers, so he had no reason to be afraid. He took in a deep breath, grabbed the door handle and pulled. The door opened easily and he went in leaving his friends outside holding their breaths. The door slowly closed behind him, but with no fear Arthur made his way inside the house. In the entry there were big windows on both sides of the heavy front door and the light of the evening sun shined through them. He walked in to the hallway that led deeper in to house, he tried to open every door that there was, but none of them budged. Some of the doors didn't even have any hinges on them and yet they stood still as Arthur tried his best to open them.

One of the stories said that the spirits of massacred children were holding the doors closed so that the murderer's spirit wouldn't go out and collect any more innocent victims. But of course it could just be that the wood had swollen and shaped it self over the years and that could be why the doors wouldn't move. But hey, haunted house sounds better than a swollen house, doesn't it. There were also lot of other hearsay and speculation involving the house.

After trying every door (several times in fact) he had given up, but just in case, Arthur decided to spend a few more minutes in the house, so no one could call him a coward. As he loitered in the hallway trying to see what the house really looked like inside (it was dark) he could suddenly hear someone speak somewhere close by. Arthur felt a weird reaction in his stomach, but he did not panic, he moved closer to the sound. One of the doors opened almost hitting Arthur on the face and a figure walked out of there. As the figure noticed Arthur it screamed like a little girl, jumped back inside and slammed the door close. ("_There is somebody in the hallway again_"). At first Arthur had been about to wee him self, but then the voice of reason had spoken in his head and he swiftly walked out of the house, full of questions.

"Arthur, was that you screaming just now?" Valiant asked with a smug grin.

"Are you seriously asking me that question, do I look like someone who screams like that." Arthur snapped back." Very funny, which one of you was it? Are all the girls here?" But as he counted everyone he froze.

"Is there an open window at the other side or something?" Arthur ran to the side of the house he believed would have a window to the room. The window was intact and much too high for any of them to climb in even with a little help. He ran around the house to check the other windows. Most of the windows were sealed with shutters. As Arthur came back around the house the others were starting to look a bit restless.

"Arthur, what's going on?"

"What are you doing?"

"This isn't funny."

"I'm going to ask this just once and once only. And I would really want a serious answer because believe me when I say I don't like being messed around with. Who was in the house?"

"Stop messing around Arthur, no one was in the house and you know that. You just pissed your pants over some freaky shadow and now you're just trying to blame it on someone else." Valiant snorted.

Some of the kids started to back away from the house. "Maybe we should go. I don't like this, it's not fun anymore." Some of the kids were more than ready to leave.

"Arthur, come and show me where you saw this "someone". Let's see if you were seeing ghosts or not, aye." Valiant boldly walked towards the house now, obviously he was trying to show off.

Arthur hesitated for a moment, but decided to give it go. 'Cause there where no such thing as ghosts. Right? This was just some prank Valiant had set up for them. Right?

"That's the door that opened." Arthur pointed at the door, but was sure to leave some distance. Valiant moved towards the door carefully (his posture was a lot les bold now) a bit too carefully, Arthur thought, for someone who had put this whole scam up himself was certainly doing a good job by hiding his part in it. Valiant tried the door handle, but it didn't budge. He put some more force in to it and hit the door with his side. The door remained shut, but as he backed away to come up with a new strategy a quiet noise could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Did you hear that?" Arthur asked with a slightly trembling voice.

"Yeah. Maybe it was just the wind or the wood making a sound as it lived." Valiant threw in a few guesses in a confident manner. But just to be sure, both boys fell silent to reaffirm they were not imagining.

The sound came again. It was like someone was laughing. Not the creepy kind of evil laugh, but more like bubbly girly giggling. Yeah, someone was definitely giggling on the other side of the door. Valiant's eyes were wide with fear. Arthur was starting to believe that maybe Valiant hadn't set the whole thing up after all.

"Who…Who is there? Sho…show yourself." Arthur tried to sound convincing.

"Oh, but I can't, I'm not allowed to come out and play. If I go he will be angry with me." The giggling stopped and a tiny voice responded from the other side of the door.

"Who?" Arthur's voice was shaking a little now, even though he tried his best to keep his cool. Valiant was slowly moving his way to the direction of the front door, but Arthur grabbed his sleeve.

"The man." Voice replied.

"What man?" Arthur asked.

"The man with the red eyes!"

"WHAT?" Both boys yelled simultaneously.

"Oh my goodness, he's coming!" The voice screamed and suddenly all the doors in the hallway slammed open and a sinister laugh echoed throughout the hallway.

The boys ran all the way back to their homes screaming as much their lungs could bare. The other kids were already long gone before Valiant and Arthur even got out of the house. If the boys would have dared to look back at the house as they ran for their lives they would have seen a man and a boy laughing on the stone steps of the haunted house.

"I'm not sure if they're getting dumber every year or what, ´cause this certainly feels like it gets easier every passing year."

-_Back in present time_ -

_I'm being ridiculous, it's just a house. _

_Just a house. _

_Just a house. _

_Just a house._

_There is no such thing as ghosts._

_Then how do you explain what happened last time?_

_Oh shut up._

Arthur stood in front of the gate that was hanging crookedly on its hinges. He took a deep breath. He stepped closer to push the gate open, but the gate moved on its own with a loud squeak. Arthur froze.

_It's just the wind._

Arthur tried to ensure himself and took a deep breath and boldly pushed the gate (it moved again before his fingers could touch it) and he hesitantly stepped to the yard.

_It__ was just the wind._

Even though the flashbacks of his previous encounter with the house haunted in his mind, curiosity pushed its way past them. Arthur made his way to the stone steps that led to the door.

_Should I go in or not?_

_But what if someone really lives in there? _

_And what if that someone isn't Merlin?_

_I can't just simply brake in to someone's home. _

_What would I say? _

All those things going around his head and Arthur still decided to try the door. He walked up and knocked on the door. He waited. Nothing. He wanted to try the handle, but hesitated.

_It's a friggin haunted house, why would anyone live there? _

_It's not like it'__s his house anyway? _

_No one knows who owns the house it__'s just always been here. _

_At least that's what they say__..._

He grabbed the handle and turned it. The handle didn't move.

"Shit." He frowned and tried again. Nothing. He backed of from the door and looked in from the window next to it. He could see no signs of living.

_I don't know why I even bothered._

Arthur jumped down the stone steps. He was ready to leave when he noticed a flick of light in the corner of his eye. He turned. The porch light was on. For some reason it gave him some courage. As he was staring at the light Arthur noticed something moving in the second floor window right above the door. There it was again, someone definitely just peeked out of the window, Arthur was sure of it. Arthur was also pretty sure it was Merlin. Arthur couldn't help but grin. He grabbed some paper from his backpack. He left after shoving a little note through the mail slot.

-

_Just a few moments earlier_:

"I'm home!" Merlin greeted but there was no reply. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of milk from the fridge. Wiser from earlier encounters he sniffed the substance before taking a sip. It seemed fresh enough. As he was jugging down the milk he noticed a piece of paper on the kitchen table.

"_Out getting supplies__. I'll be back in the evening._

_Get something to eat._

_Do your homework and don't d__rink straight from the bottle. _

_We do have glasses in this house you know!_

_Gaius"_

"How can you know?" He put the bottle back. "And why do you always sign these things? Like there is someone else here who leaves me notes." Merlin protested to Gaius' note and took a closer look in the fridge. It was full of nothing.

"Typical." Merlin stated and banged the door shut. He went through the hallway and climbed the stairs up to his room. Not the biggest room possible, but very cosy. It had everything he needed, table, chair, bookshelf and a bed (he also had a little plant, but it wasn't doing so well, Merlin had already accepted that it was it's time to go). What else could anyone want?

Merlin threw his backpack on the floor, went to the bookshelf and started tracing his finger along the books. Finally he found the one he was looking for; _Old magic_ and grabbed it. It wasn't the first time he was reading that book and it certainly wasn't the last time. He sat on the windowsill; there was still plenty of daylight left to have a little reading by the window. Merlin was very fond of reading. This time though his plans got interrupted by a figure loitering outside of the house. Merlin jumped of the windowsill.

_That was definitely not Gaius. _

_Who the hell comes here this time of the year?_

Merlin craned closer to the window and peeked out from the side of the curtain. He withdrew his head immediately.

_Arthur! _

_What the hell is he doing here staring at our door?!_

Merlin went back closer to the window to take a better look. But as he cracked the curtain this time Arthur was looking right at him.

_Shit! Did he just saw me?!_

_Oh, bloody hell!_

_Gaius isn't going to like this._


End file.
